阿尔法协议：

Alpha Protocol:

间谍 RPG

The Espionage RPG

我要开门见山地说，Obsidian Entertainment 的《阿尔法协议：间谍 RPG（Alpha Protocol: The Espionage RPG）》（后简称《阿尔法协议》）是史上最受低估的动作类 RPG 游戏之一。诚然，它有许多不足，因此并不够格当选年度最佳游戏，但《阿尔法协议》的有些重要元素打磨得很好，超越与之同台竞技的游戏。

顾名思义，《阿尔法协议》带你走进间谍的世界。这里有机密组织、恐怖分子、叛变间谍、詹姆斯·邦德电影里五花八门的道具。当然，还少不了一个拯救世界的秘密特工。而这位英雄就是迈克尔· 索顿（Michael Thorton），刚刚加入美国高度机密的情报组织——“阿尔法协议”（Alpha Protocol）。

一段简短的介绍后，随之而来的是简单的教学流程，你的间谍生涯也就此拉开序幕。之后，你将迎来第一个任务——前往沙特阿拉伯，找到一个国际恐怖分子并解决他^[1] 。当然，故事这才刚刚开始，很快你会发现事情没有看上去那么简单。几个任务后，美国政府会对你发布通缉悬赏你的性命，你还要应付俄罗斯黑帮、中国敌人的追杀。

I should clarify right at the beginning that, in my opinion, Obsidian Entertainment's Alpha Protocol is one of the most underappreciated Action RPGs of all time. Sure, the game has numerous faults, so it is not entirely Game of the Year material, but it also has several important and well-developed elements in which it surpasses the competition.

As one can see from the subtitle, Alpha Protocol invites you into the world of espionage, where you encounter top-secret organisations, terrorists, rogue spies, gadgets right out of a James Bond movie and, of course, a secret agent who will save the day. The hero I'm talking about is Michael Thorton, who was just recruited into Alpha Protocol, a super secret organisation in the United States.

After a brief introduction, you will start your career with an easy tutorial, followed by your first real assignment: travelling to Saudi Arabia to find and deal with an international terrorist. Of course, this is just the beginning, and soon you will figure out things are not as they look. After a few missions, you will run for your life, with half of the American government breathing down on your neck, not mentioning the Russian mafia, and some bad guys from China.

阿尔法协议原定于 2009 年发售，但发行商 SEGA 为了炒作，将发售期延后。但这一决策起了反效果，因为最终的发售日与《质量效应 2（Mass Effect 2）》与《细胞分裂：断罪（Splinter Cell: Conviction）》迎头相撞。由于差距较大，《阿尔法协议》销量惨淡。

Alpha Protocol was ready for a 2009 release, but its publisher, SEGA, imposed a delay to build up hype. The plan backfired, as AP was released right after Mass Effect 2 and Splinter Cell: Conviction, leading to harsh comparisons and slow sales.

如果你喜欢汤姆·克兰西的政治惊悚小说或热播电视剧《24》^[2] ，那你一定会喜欢《阿尔法协议》所营造的世界氛围，本作的叙事也肯定不会让你失望。

显然，好故事离不开好角色，Obsidian 的角色塑造让人眼前一亮。迈克尔·索顿这一人物形象具有可塑性，其性格特点完全由玩家决定。而这离不开游戏独特的对话系统。乍一看，本作的对话系统与其他 RPG 作品里的轮盘式对话选项极为相似，但所给出的选项与内容无关，而是主角答话的姿态。这样以来，索顿或咄咄逼人，或态度专业，或温文尔雅——这恰恰对应三位经典特工的人设：杰克· 鲍尔（Jack Bauer）、杰森· 伯恩（Jason Bourne），詹姆斯· 邦德（James Bond）^[3] ，此外，游戏还会根据具体情境加入额外对话选项。玩家要在短时间内快速做出选择，人物对话因此显得更流畅、自然。

每一个抉择，每一次回答，每一份收集到的情报都会给故事进展带来或大或小的影响。论叙事多样性，能与《阿尔法协议》媲美的游戏少之又少，这也吸引玩家多周目重玩游戏。你甚至可以选择完成任务的先后顺序。比如，你可以选择直接潜入空军基地，也可以在此之前先去寻找一名当地军火商搜集情报。

If you like the political thrillers of Tom Clancy, or the hit TV show 24, you will feel right at home in the world of Alpha Protocol, and you won't be disappointed by the events depicted in the game.

Obviously a good story cannot exist without good characters, and Obsidian pulls this off quite well.
Michael Thorton is not a predefined character; it's up to players to decide what kind of person he is. An
important tool for this is the dialogue system, which at first sight is very similar to the dialogue wheels used in other RPGs. However, you won't choose what you want to say, but in what manner you want to reply. This way, Thorton can be aggressive, professional, or suave – the three agent archetypes, Jack Bauer, Jason Bourne and James Bond – plus a few other choices, depending on the context. There is a short time limit for choosing, which gives dialogues a nice, natural flow.

Your decisions, your replies, the intel gathered, all have consequences (some bigger, some smaller) to a degree that few other games ever could match, which in itself warrants several playthroughs. You can even choose how to approach missions, such as trying to infiltrate an airbase right at the start or going after a local weapon dealer for intel first.

__________

¹ 译者注：放走、逮捕、处决这个目标会给游戏走向带来不同影响。
² 译者注：一部关于反恐、谍战的美国电视剧，又名《反恐任务》。
³ 译者注：分别来自于《24》、《谍影重重》系列，与《007》系列。